Abstract

Bullying and the start using tobacco are behaviors that happen in the school context with severe consequences for the adolescent development. For the purpose of evaluating the association between these behaviors, both were evaluated in a sample of 266 middle-school students. The results showed significant correlations between bullying-aggression and smoking susceptibility, experimentation with tobacco and present smoking. Furthermore, students categorized as aggressors or aggressor/victims obtained higher scores in smoking behavior variables than those not involved with bullying. A relationship between bullying-victimization and tobacco was not found. Boys obtained higher scores in direct bullying-aggression, girls scored higher in social victimization, there was no difference between male and female students in smoking behavior. The psychometric analysis of the Inventario de Bullying para Adolescentes, adapted from Adolescent Peer Relations Instrument, is presented in this document. Findings are discussed in syndrome of problem behavior context and their implications are analyzed with the purpose of preventive programs implementation.